New homeowners in Canada face an unreasonable federal tax that was never intended to impact most buyers, says an industry group. Under a 1991 regulation, full GST rebates remain limited to houses valued at $350,000 or less – a sum below average prices in Canada’s largest cities.
A federal commissioner says national agencies including Transport Canada and the coast guard have not taken a hard look at risks facing the British Columbia coast from surging tanker traffic if new pipelines are built to export oilsands crude or natural gas.
Canadians have left nearly a half-billion dollars unclaimed in dormant bank accounts, including $104 in cash left over from ex-prime minister Kim Campbell’s 1993 Progressive Conservative leadership campaign. Bank of Canada records detail $496 million in unclaimed funds forgotten in accounts nationwide.
Federal librarians propose to publish online every word uttered in the House of Commons and Senate for the past 146 years. The Library of Parliament said the five-year project will digitize all debates and speeches since Confederation, including the famed Hansard shorthand for heckling: ‘Oh, oh!’
Canada lacks reliable figures on cellphone thievery ahead of demands for a national database of stolen phones. Industry, regulators and police point to contradictory trends in phone theft: “It’s a difficult one to track.”
The number of self-employed workers in Ontario last year reached a historic high, leading the nation in a long-term trend to greater numbers of Canadians who work for themselves: “From an accountants’ point of view it’s wonderful.”
Police costs are “unsustainable” and must be controlled through efficiencies, a national law enforcement association is warning MPs. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said rising costs – now estimated at $12.3 billion nationwide – cannot be met in the future without an “evolution” in modern law enforcement.
A federal museum is attempting to restore artifacts including ancient coins that were kept in place using Velcro tape, Blacklock’s has learned. Sources said the Bank of Canada’s Currency Museum is meticulously examining dozens of valuable specimens that were stored in pull-out drawers using Velcro that caused heavy staining.
The feared collapse of one of the last large independent, Canadian-owned book publishers is prompting renewed appeals for federal regulations to aid the nation’s writers as secured creditors in cases of bankruptcy: “If you are a writer waiting on a $3,000 royalty payment, it is serious.”
A government lottery monopoly is patenting new “hybrid” tickets for licensing to other gaming corporations in Canada and the United States. The Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp. sold $155 million worth of the 2-in-1 Poker Lotto tickets last year, according to revenue data provided to Blacklock’s.
Canadians now spend more than $1,000 a week on average for food, shelter and other expenses, a historic high. Typical expenses for goods and services nationwide are $55,151 a year, according to federal data. Albertans spent the most, Prince Edward Islanders the least.
The Department of Fisheries has cut so many jobs it’s unsure what to do with the empty offices. In a report signed by Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield, the department said it will take time to “know what office spaces will be left vacant” amid cuts affecting scientists, program managers and enforcement staff nationwide.
Canadians must remain “firmly focused” as Cabinet seeks terms on a free trade treaty with Europe next week, say expert analysts: “This deal is a big deal.” Despite debt crises, the European Union represents a $17 trillion economy. Terms of a free trade pact have been discussed for nearly a decade.
Industry Canada has issued a patent to an Ontario manufacturer for a zipper-less picnic cooler designed to prevent sandwich mashing. “It’s a better mousetrap,” said the Toronto inventor; “In our world this is ground-breaking. It was a big collaborative effort.”
Cabinet has big plans for private resource development when it assumes chairmanship of the Arctic Council for the first time in fifteen years: “The overarching theme of our tenure as chair of the Council will be development for the people of the north.”
